RUSSIAN EMBASSY ON AMBASSADOR'S FAILURE TO MEET WITH MESIC

ZAGREB, March 23 (Hina) - A misunderstanding in the protocol is the reason why Russian Ambassador Eduard Leonydovich Kuzmin failed to arrive for his announced meeting with Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Wednesday, an advisor with the Russian Embassy told Hina on Thursday. Advisor Alexandar Botyanovski dismissed media claims that Kuzmin's failure to arrive for the meeting was an act of diplomatic protest over the Croatian Oil Company's (INA) White Book. Ambassador Kuzmin was to meet President Mesic on Wednesday but he did not appear at the President's Office at the agreed time and after some 15 minutes he requested that the meeting be postponed. "It was a misunderstanding in the protocol," Botyanovski said. "The meeting had been scheduled before the so-called White Paper appeared and it had nothing to do with it," he stressed. The Croatian media on Thursday speculated that Kuzmin's failure to attend the meeting with Mesic could be related to the publishing of INA's White Book, in which it is claimed that Russia is a mob lair and in which the former INA management is accused of connections with Russian mobsters. Goran Rotim, spokesman for the Croatian Foreign Ministry, said this was about a misunderstanding in the protocol and not an act of diplomatic protest. Botyanovski said Kuzmin would meet Mesic and the President's Office reported the meeting could be held next week. (hina) jn rml